Transport 2000 Canada, the nation's leading citizen transportation advocacy
group, is now Transport Action Canada. The name may be new, but
our mission remains the same since our founding in 1976: to seek sound
transportation policies, practices and services which improve the quality
of life for all Canadians.

Long-serving Transport Action volunteer Bert Titcomb, who over the years
served as national office manager, newsletter editor, and corporate
secretary, died peacefully on May 13th after suffering a heart attack on
May 3rd. Bert, who was 81 and in good health, had lived an active life,
playing tennis and exercising regularly. He leaves his wife Mariette and
three sons. As a professional engineer, Bert had personal experience in the
rail industry, working for some years at the Swiss locomotive manufacturer,
SLM. He had recently developed a new hobby of oil painting railroad subjects
and in March had joined the Ottawa Railway History Circle. He was also a
member and former secretary of the Bytown Railway Society. His last
volunteer effort for Transport Action was helping to man our booth at
the Ottawa Train Expo on April 26th and he had attended the Railway
Association of Canada's Rail-Government Interface Conference on our behalf
on February 26th.

Bert came to the Ottawa office of Transport 2000 (as it was known then)
in 1996, was corporate secretary until 2006, and newsletter editor from
1998 to 2007. He was also a member of the board of CRASH
(Canadians for Responsible and Safe Highways).

Victoria Transport Policy Institute's
Spring 2015 newsletter
is now available.
This includes new reports such as
"Analysis of Public Policies that Unintentionally Encourage and
Subsidize Sprawl", "Twelve Reasons to Support Vancouver's Transportation Tax",
events and numerous resources for transport and planning.

Notice is given that the Annual General Meeting of Transport Action
Canada will be held at "Le Restaurant Normandin" in Charny (QC) in
the City of Lévis at 8041, avenue des Églises, at 1:00 PM on
Saturday May 9th, 2015.

The meeting agenda will be published on the website of Transport Action
Canada www.transport-action.ca and it will include the usual business
and will be preceded by lunch at 12 noon at the restaurant and will
commence with speakers: Jacques Vandersleyen, professor and (on screen)
Bruce Campbell, Executive Director of the Canadian Centre for Policy
Alternatives; on oil-by-rail safety. Harry Gow will chair the session
and the question period.

A programme of visits to sites of railway interest during the week-end
will be organised for those interested.

Information on accommodation will be published on the Transport Action
Canada website and other local information is available from
Mr. Louis-François Garceau of the Groupe TRAQ at
info@groupe-traq.com

Transport Action Canada and its regional affiliates are campaigning to stop
cuts to VIA Rail passenger train services with our National Dream Renewed
Campaign. We advocate for improved rail passenger service based on the
economic, environmental, and social benefits of the passenger train mode of
travel. Canada is out of step with other G8 nations which are expanding
and investing in passenger rail. The NDR website is
www.nationaldreamrenewed.com

There are suggestions that Canada's national passenger train system could be
replaced by privately operated cruise trains. But cruise trains are not the
same as public passenger trains. While the private sector can be a valuable
partner in enhancing our national passenger rail system, we must beware of
any "fire sale" that would skim the most profitable business off to private
corporations and leave Canadians without affordable, year-round train
service.

Read the
full brochure on the situation here,
contact your Members of Parliament with your concerns, and join Transport
Action to help us fight for sustainable, equitable and convenient
public transportation for Canadians.

No Little Plan: Electrifying GO Transit

TRANSPORT ACTION CANADA and the CLEAN TRAIN COALITION have jointly released a
rail electrification report for the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA).

The report, entitled No Little Plan: Electrifying GO Transit, is
written by Greg Gormick, a leading rail transportation and transit consultant
and journalist. The report was jointly funded by the John McCullum fund of
Transport Action Canada, and by the Canadian Auto Workers. It was
commissioned to encourage the Government of Ontario to commit fully and
promptly to a regional electric rail plan.

Transport Action Canada is a non-profit organization whose primary purpose is
research, public education and consumer advocacy. It promotes
environmentally-sound transportation solutions and gets actively involved in a
wide range of issues such as: public transportation, safety, accessibility,
energy efficiency, protection of the environment, intermodal cooperation and
government regulation.